Bombastic Shiraz

Bombastic Shiraz could be described as the ideal greyhound such was his dominance on the racetrack and also as a sire.

Trainer Darren Cairns said that he and his parents (owners David and Kaye Cairns) wake up every day and “pinch ourselves” in disbelief that we have a greyhound so good.

“He has probably made about $4Million for us,” Cairns announced.

Bombastic Shiraz’s first studmaster, Bob Douglas, revealed that at the beginning of 2004, when he first agreed to stand Bombastic Shiraz at stud, he was convinced it would be short lived.

Sure the 34kg black sprinter had proven to be the best greyhound in Australia during the spring of 2003, however Douglas, a keen student of greyhound breeding, was certain that Bombastic Shiraz was destined for failure given his lack of early speed on the racetrack.

“History shows that stronger ‘run on’ greyhounds like Bombastic Shiraz don’t make great stud dogs, so when I decided to stand him for the Cairns family I was certain it would only last a couple of years,” Douglas said.

“However, I couldn’t have been more wrong. He defied history right from the start with his first litter producing Flashing Floods, who won three Group 1 races.”

“He’s the only stud dog in history to produce a group 1 winner from his first mating, and there are so many other champions he has produced through his career including Bobby Boucheau, Cindeen Shelby, Velocette, Fabregas and current day champion Miata.”

Douglas revealed that like fellow Hall of Famer, Bombastic Shiraz only had one testicle, making his success at stud even more incredible.

Bombastic Shiraz was bred by the Cairns’ and always lived there, commuting to Douglas’ property in Heathcote to perform stud duties.

“In his early days at stud, before he had proven himself as a sire, he came to my place one day to serve a broodmatron and he was lying in the back of the panel van because he had a virus,” Douglas recalled.

“The greyhound industry can be extremely fickle, and if word got out that Bombastic Shiraz didn’t serve when he was supposed to his reputation could have been ruined.”

“I whispered to him, come on boy, please serve her if you can. If you do you can have four days off. Somehow he summoned the strength to get up and he did what he had to do and then he collapsed.”

“It was the most inspirational thing I’ve seen in greyhound racing and I still get tingles thinking about it.”

He won his last seven races on end in 2003 including the Group 1 Melbourne Cup, the Group 1 Topgun, the Shootout and the Silver Bullet, each time overcoming slow starts and storming home from mid-field or even further adrift to win.

“He had a fierce will to win,” Douglas recalled. “He would get people’s hearts pumping.”

“Just after he retired the Cairns family received offers of $800,000 and $1milllion dollars for Bombastic Shiraz four days apart. But the dog was not for sale under any circumstances. He was destined for life as a pet.”

Now almost 12, Bombastic Shiraz retired from stud duties last year and, true to their word, he now has full run of the Cairns’ property in Lal Lal near Ballarat.